Why Nations Fail

F
ROM
 C
AJAMARCA …
The expeditions of de Solís, de Mendoza, and de Ayolas
came in the wake of more famous ones that followed
Christopher Columbus’s sighting of one of the islands of
the Bahamas on October 12, 1492. Spanish expansion
and colonization of the Americas began in earnest with the
invasion of Mexico by Hernán Cortés in 1519, the
expedition of Francisco Pizarro to Peru a decade and a
half later, and the expedition of Pedro de Mendoza to the
Río de la Plata just two years after that. Over the next
century, Spain conquered and colonized most of central,
western, and southern South America, while Portugal
claimed Brazil to the east.
The Spanish strategy of colonization was highly effective.
First perfected by Cortés in Mexico, it was based on the
observation that the best way for the Spanish to subdue
opposition was to capture the indigenous leader. This
strategy enabled the Spanish to claim the accumulated
wealth of the leader and coerce the indigenous peoples to
give tribute and food. The next step was setting themselves
up as the new elite of the indigenous society and taking
control of the existing methods of taxation, tribute, and,
particularly, forced labor.
When Cortés and his men arrived at the great Aztec
capital of Tenochtitlan on November 8, 1519, they were
welcomed by Moctezuma, the Aztec emperor, who had
decided, in the face of much advice from his counselors, to
welcome the Spaniards peacefully. What happened next is
well described by the account compiled after 1545 by the

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Franciscan priest Bernardino de Sahagún in his famous
Florentine Codices.
[At] once they [the Spanish] firmly seized
Moctezuma … then each of the guns shot
off … Fear prevailed. It was as if everyone
had swallowed his heart. Even before it had
grown dark, there was terror, there was
astonishment, there was apprehension, there
was a stunning of the people.
And when it dawned thereupon were
proclaimed all the things which [the
Spaniards] required: white tortillas, roasted
turkey hens, eggs, fresh water, wood,
firewood, charcoal … This had Moctezuma
indeed commanded.
And when the Spaniards were well settled,
they thereupon inquired of Moctezuma as to
all the city’s treasure … with great zeal they
sought gold. And Moctezuma thereupon went
leading 
the 
Spaniards. 
They 
went
surrounding him … each holding him, each
grasping him.
And when they reached the storehouse, a
place called Teocalco, thereupon they
brought forth all the brilliant things; the quetzal
feather head fan, the devices, the shields, the
golden discs … the golden nose crescents,
the golden leg bands, the golden arm bands,
the golden forehead bands.
Thereupon was detached the gold … at
once they ignited, set fire to … all the
precious things. They all burned. And the gold
the 
Spaniards 
formed 
into 
separate
bars 
… 
And 
the 
Spanish 
walked
everywhere … They took all, all that they saw
which they saw to be good.
Thereupon they went to Moctezuma’s own
storehouse … at the place called
Totocalco 
… 
they 
brought 
forth
[Moctezuma’s] own property … precious
things all; the necklaces with pendants, the

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arm bands with tufts of quetzal feathers, the
golden arm bands, the bracelets, the golden
bands with shells … and the turquoise
diadem, the attribute of the ruler. They took it
all.
The military conquest of the Aztecs was completed by
1521. Cortés, as governor of the province of New Spain,
then began dividing up the most valuable resource, the
indigenous population, through the institution of the